Korea mulling purchase of Polish military drones

South Korea's military is considering buying Polish drones, government officials said Monday, amid growing bilateral arms industry ties.

South Korea's military is considering buying Polish drones, government officials said Monday, amid growing bilateral arms industry ties.

South Korea's defense authorities plan to send a delegation to Poland soon to inspect Poland's unmanned aerial vehicles and evaluate their suitability for operations on the Korean Peninsula, according to the officials.

Warsaw is said to have requested Seoul for the purchase of its homegrown weapons systems during Defense Minister Shin Won-sik's visit to the country last month.

The military has been interested in Poland's unmanned aerial vehicles in light of the growing importance of the assets in modern combat. Poland's "Warmate" suicide drone has been used by Ukraine in its war against Russia.

"As Poland's drones are currently used in actual combat, (we) will review whether there are areas that can be utilized by our military," a defense ministry official said.

The move comes after Poland signed major deals with South Korean defense companies in 2022 to purchase various weapons systems, including FA-50 jets, K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and Chunmoo rocket artillery systems.

"Demand for small-sized unmanned aerial vehicles in our military has grown, and Poland has bought a lot of our weapons," a government official said. "If there is an aircraft type that our military wants, then it would be a good match."

South Korea has made efforts to step up the use of unmanned assets, launching the Drone Operations Command in September last year.

Yonhap